Rail oiler



Jan. 23, 1934. G. M. osTERBERG 1,944,666

RAIL OILER Filed NOV- 6. 1930 25 INVENToR. 'LQSm// 052275673.

Patented Jan. 23, 1934 UNITED STATES RAIL Gustav M. Osterberg,

Application November 6,

4 Claims.

This invention relates to oilers adapted for use in lubricating the guide rails of elevators and other apparatus arranged to move longitudinally of guide rails of any kind or class; and the object oi the invention is to provide an oiler of the class specied, involving a unit body of cast material, preferably formed by die casting to eliminate milling, drilling and other machine operations, thus materially reducing the manufacturing cost of devices of the class under consideration; a further object being to provide a comparatively large, box-shaped casing forming a container for the oil or lubricant employed with a discharge passage arranged a predetermined distance above the bottom of said casing, and a multiple strand body disposed in said passage and arranged internally of the casing and also extending beyond said port for engagement with a rail to be lubricated,l and fur- 20 ther to the provision of an enlarged body disposed within the chamber of the casing in which said port is formed and the provision of an adjustment screw accessible from within the casing, controlling and regulating the discharge of oil through said passage and the strand body arranged therein; a further object being to provide, externally of the casing, a channel-shaped housing, into the central portion of which said discharge aperture opens, means being provided at the upper end of the housing for supporting a U-shaped body of brous material, forming a wiper for removing dust, grit or the like from the rail, facilitating vthe proper lubrication thereof; a further object being to provide means disposed at each side of said U-shaped housing at the lower end thereof and on the adjacent part of the casing for detachably mounting the oiler in connection with suitable supports; a still further object being to provide the lower face of the housing and adjacent part of the casing with an oil groove whereby any excess oil which may collect in said channel housing may be returned thereto and to the rail; a still further object being to provide the open end of the casing with a hinged and substantially dust-proof cover preventing grit and dust from entering the oil storage chamber of the casing to a major degree; and with these and other objects in view, the invention consists in an oiler of the class and for the purpose specied, which is simple in construction, efcient in use, and which is constructed as hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specication, of which the accompanying drawing forms a part, in which the separate parts OILER Harrington Park, N. J.

1930. Serial No. 493,733

oi my improvement lare designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views, and in whichz- Y Fig. 1 is a side, sectional view of an oiler made according to my invention, diagrammaticallyindicating one method of its attachment to an elevator. Y

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1 and,

Fig. 3 is a bottom and sectional plan View of a part of the construction shown in Figs. l and 2. For the purpose of illustrating one method of carrying my invention into effect, I have indicated at 5 in Fig. l of the drawing, a partof the top portion of an elevator, and at Gone of v the guide rails of the elevator. At 7 I have shown two brackets or other supports on the elevator disposed at opposite sides of the rail 6 or the ange 6a thereof, upon which one of my improved rail oilers is adapted to be supported.`

In the construction shown, the oiler consists of' a unitary casing 8, which is preferably rectangular or box-shaped in form, and may be cast or molded in any desired manner, but is preferably molded from die cast material so as to avoid the necessity of drilling, reaming or otherwise finishing the product.V The casing has a comparatively large storage chamber 9 for oil or other lubricant, and the capacity of' this chamber will govern the particular type of installation which is made, depending largely upon the distance travelled by the elevator. This chamber may have a capacity of from one pint of lubricant, to any desired number of quarts.

Formed integrally with one side Wall 8a of the casing 8 and arranged within the chamber 9 thereof is an enlarged body l0, which is also integral with the bottom wall. Adjacent the upper end of the enlargement 10 is formed a transverse oil discharge port ll, opening into vthe chamy ber 9 and outwardly through the wall 8a .into a chamber 12 formed within a U -shaped or channelshaped housing 13 extending outwardly through the wall 8a from the lower end of said wall to a point adjacent the upper vend thereof.'`

Arranged in the port 11 is a wick or multiple strand body ll, the ymajor portion ofA which is coiled within the bottom of the chamber 9 and one end extends into the chamber 12 and is flared therein as seen at 14a to engage the flange 6a of the guide rail 6. It will be understood that the discharge port l1 is arranged well'above the bottom of the chamber 9 so that lubricating oil may be fed by gravity as well as being siphoned from said chamber due tothe capillary attracerated only by 'those authorized'to tion of the multiple strand body. This feature of my invention is described and claimed in two United States patents granted to me, namely, No. 1,181,538 dated .li/lay 2, 1315 and No. 1,595,548 dated August 17, 1926, over which the structure disclosed herein constitutes an improvement.

The discharge of the lubricating oil through the multiple strand body 1li disposed in the port `11 is controlled by an adjustable screw 15 in `screw 15 prevents any possible leakage of oil that may exist upwardly around the screw from passing to the exterior of the casing, which might be the case in arranging the screw externally'thereof as in one or my earlier patents.

The upper'ends of the side and back walls of the housing 13 are slightly enlarged and provided with grooves 16to receive a comparatively heavy,

U-shaped body 17 of fibre or other relatively soft, cushioning material adapted to engage the end and side walls of the iange 6 of the rail to act as a wiper to remove grit or dirt which may collect on the rail, thus maintaining the rail in a clean and smooth state at all times. The body 17 is held in place by Vpins or Atacks 17a passed through the top of the side walls of the housing 13.

At the lower end of the side and back walls of the housing 13 are inwardly extending flanges 18 which project slightly and serve to catch any drip oil that may prevail within Vthe chamber 12. This oil or substantially most of the same will pass around the ilange 18 onto the bottom wall of the casing or the housingportion 13 thereof and be checked by the groove 19 encircling the side and back walls of the housing 13 or the chamber 12 therein.

VAt the bottom of the side wall 8 of the casing and projecting outwardly 'therefrom and from the bottom of the side walls of the housing 13are lug plates 2,1 having elongated apertures 22, note Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing. These lugs serve as means for supporting an oiler in connection with certain types of elevator apparatus, employing the supporting bracket 7, the'latter being disposed beneath the lugs 21, and bolts 23 are passed through the elongated apertures 22 and through the brackets 7 to support the oiler in connection with the top of the elevator. It will be understood at this time that in other types of elevator construction which do not employ the brackets 'l or their equivalent, the casing of the oiler will be constructed to suit such other types of installation.

Thectop or" the casing 8 is open and adapted to be closed by a cover plate 24 having depending flanges 25 at the sides and free end thereof, which overlap the walls of the casing, the cover 24 being-hinged to the casing by hinge pins or screws 26 passed Vthrough ears 27 which overlap opposite side walls o1 the casing. The hinge end of the cover plate is preferably formed into a domeshaped hood 28 which facilitates the swinging movement of the cover from a closed toA an open position, the open position being indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawing.

With an oiler oi the class specified, it will be apparent that the most eincient and positively functioning means for applying lubricant to the guide rails of an elevator or other apparatus is provided, without undue waste of oil, and the 1ubricant operation results in the application of a thin nlm of oil onto the rail in the upward and downward movement or" the elevator with reference thereto.

By providing the wiper pad of cushioning material, the raill may be kept clean and free from grit and dirt at all times, it being understood that this wiper is detachably supported in connection with the oiler and may be replaced trom time to vse time should the same become worn or otherwise Y rendered useless, the wear upon this pad being slight, however, due to the fact that it is constantly saturated with oil.

It will be understood that while I have shown certain structural details for carrying my invention into eiect, that I am not necessarily limited to these details, and various other changes in and niodincations of the structure herein shown lits and described may be made within the scope of Y the appended claims without departing from the spirit oi" inventionv or sacricing its advan- A tages. Y

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to'secure by Letters Patent, is: i

1. .ein oiler of the class described comprising a a relatively long channel housing projecting outwardly from one sideV wall Yof the casing, side wall of the casing having a discharge port opening into the central portion of the channel of said housing and into the chamber of the casing adjacent and above the bottomv thereof, and means involving a multiple strand body arranged in said passage, the chamber of said casand in said channel i'or transmitting a lubricant from the chamber of said casing to that part of said strand body disposed within said channel, said casing having an enlargement in the centrally and adjacent the bottom of one side wall thereof and through which said discharge port passes and a screw adjustably supported in said enlargement and accessible from within the chamber of said casing, the end of said screw being adapted to enter said port 'to Vooopi the inner faces of the walls of said housing adjacent the upper end thereof being grooved, and a U -shaped body oi nbrous material adapted to be arranged in said grooves and to engage a guide rail disposed within the channel of said housing forming a wiper to Vremove grit and dirt from the rail.

2. An oiler of the class described comprising a casing, a relatively long channel housing projecting outwardly froml one side wall of the oasing, side wall of the casing having a discharge port opening into the central portion of the channel of said housing Vand into the chambe oi the casing above the bottom thereof, means involving a multiple strand body arranged in said passage, the chamber of said casing and in said channel for transmitting a lubricant from the chamber or said casing to that part of said strand body disposed within said channel, the upper end of the walls of said housing being grooved to receive a U-shaped body of fibrous material adapted to engage the side and one end wan of a rail arranged in the channel of said housing, forming a wiper to remove dust and grit from the rail prior to the application of the lubricant thereto.

3. An oiler for the guide rails of elevators comprising a box-shaped casing, a U-shaped housing arranged centrally and vertically on one side wall of the casing and extending from the lower end thereof upwardly to a point below the top of the casing, the casing including a passage opening centrally into said U-shaped housing and the interior of the casing adjacent the bottom thereof, a fibrous body in said casing and housing and passed through said passage for transmitting oil from the casing into said housing, the lower end of said housing having inwardly extending flanges about the periphery thereof, the upper end of said housing having an enlarged inwardly extending flange, a groove formed in said flange for receiving and supporting a U -shaped body of fibrous material forming a Wiper for engaging the side and one end Wall of a rail arranged in the channel of said housing, the lower end of the casing and housing including outwardly and laterally extending apertured lugs by means of which the oiler may be supported in connection with an elevator, and the lower surface of the housing and casing being ush and including a groove bordering the side and back Walls of said housing.

4. A rail oiler oi' the class described comprising a box-shaped casing open at the top and a cover controlling said opening, a channel disposed on one outer side Wall thereof for receiving a rail to be lubricated, said side wall of the casing having an enlarged member projecting into the chamber of the casing and havingV a passage for placing said chamber in communication with said channel, a multiple strand body arranged in the chamber of said casing and extending through said passage into said channel for transmitting a lubricant from said chamber to said channel to lubricate the rail passing therethrough, a screw adjustably mounted in the upper end of said member and entering said passage for controlling the feed of lubricant through said strand body, said screw extending upwardly into the chamber of said casing and accessible solely through the open end of the casing, the walls of said channel being grooved and a U-shaped body of fibrous material arranged in the grooves of said channel and extending into the channel to engage the rail therein.

GUSTAV M. OSTERBERG. 

